The Grand Canyon

It's been an interesting week here with removing wallpaper from a couple of rooms and painting.  Well, actually, the wallpaper project took about a month, because -- to quote our painter -- "I've never seen anything like it in my 20 years on the job."  I'm proud to say that we had the most determined wallpaper in America (it feels so good to be number 1 at something).  I mean if there were an Olympic sport for wallpaper endurance, we'd have a wall full of gold medals (and the wallpaper would easily hold them up).   This stuff would have stuck up there until Judgment Day, all the while scoffing at all the other sissy wallpaper in the world that came down without a fight.  It certainly defeated the painter, who left after an hour and called in a "wallpaper specialist" who, of course, never showed up, leaving me to remove the wallpaper myself (with help from the family).  I think it's safe to say that once you have removed wallpaper like that, you will never even consider, even in your wildest interior decorating dreams (you know, the ones where everything is done in leopard spots?  Am I the only one who has those?), wallpapering anything. 

So, anyh0w, because of the wallpaper/painting project, my office was a demolition zone which has prevented me from sharing that fateful moment when we stepped off the Grand Canyon Railroad and approached the Canyon itself.  Well, friends, the long wait is over.  Here is what we saw as we stepped up to the edge:

This was my 3rd time to the Grand Canyon but it still leaves me speechless.  I  managed not to cry this time, like I did the first time I saw it -- at sunset on a trip that Gary and I took back when we were DINKS (double-income, no kids).  Still, the Canyon is breathtaking, jaw-dropping, gob-stopping, and indescribably majestic.

BUT, I have to say that the Grand Canyon awakened a whole new emotion for me this time:  sheer, unmitigated terror.  You see, as I mentioned, the times we visited before were (1) before we had children, and (2) before we understood how many people actually die at the GC.  Yes, people die with some regularity there because (and I know this is hard to believe with lawyers like me around) most of the GC is unfenced.  You can just walk (or slip, or trip, or stumble) off the edge of a mile-high drop.  And people do.  I don't know the exact numbers, but it's enough that there is a newly published book on the subject (which I refused to even look through until we were safely on our way back home).

Now, Gary and I (and even 7 year old Julie) can walk a straight line, looking ahead without falling.  I never noticed until now, though, that the other member of our family -- the 5 year old member -- cannot.  Yes, I came to realize that Daniel, who seems perfectly well coordinated while walking down a Phoenix-area sidewalk, is in reality a complete klutz who never watches where he's going, climbs with wild abandon on anything made of rock and falls down a lot.  A whole lot.  In other words, normal 5 year-old-boy behavior takes on a much more menacing aspect at the edge of a cliff.  Even a gorgeous cliff like this one.

 

So, we kept a vice-like grip on Daniel the whole time, and just for good measure, we kept a vice-like grip on Julie too.  And that's how we saw the Grand Canyon.  When I did try to unclench my fingers to let go for a moment for a photo, I discovered that it is virtually impossible to place your child between you an the Canyon.  There is something deep and primal inside of a Mom that screams loudly against this:

Really, I feel a little ill just looking at it.  Most of the time, I tried to "prop" them against immovable objects well away from the edge.

Despite the fact that the kids still have the imprint of my fingers on their hands and arms, we all ended up having a good time.  We particularly enjoyed the fact that not a single one of us plummeted to an untimely end.   I'll share some more from our trip soon, but will leave you with this quote from one of the first westerners to see the Grand Canyon.  Obviously a misguided fellow.

“The region is of course, altogether valueless. It can be approached only from the South, and after entering it there is nothing to do but leave. Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to visit this profitless locality. It seems intended   by nature that the Colorado  river, along with the greater portion of its lonely and majestic way,    shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed.”

                                                                        Lt. Joseph Christmas Ives

[p.s. We were among the 4-5 million people who visit the Grand Canyon every year.]

 

Comments

[Jane]

Great photos, and I loved your description of coping with the Canyon edges!

[TeresaP]

Oh I love your post Dawn... you had me laughing and I would have been just like you with our sweeties. But really your story about seeing your sons walking in a whole new way was a great start to my morning.

Thanks for the smile today :)

[Barb]

Oh, my heart was pounding just thinking about taking my kid. I would be the same way. Heck, I kind of freak out with fear when she's riding one of the crazy rides at Kings Island.

[AngFab]

FABULOUS POST DAWN! roflol at your olympic wallpaper! As I was reading, I was thinking to myself "she wil *never* put up wallpaper in her home EVER" lol. The Grand Canyon is BREATHTAKING. Love your photography! We have never been, but I see a trip in the near future! My photography will show SKADS OF PEOPLE that I'm standing BEHIND in my efforts to NOT FALL OFF!

[debra]

oh my.. I'm sitting here a little shaken at the thought of this Grand Canyon ordeal... doesn't sound like anyplace we'll be heading anytime soon! Glad you made it back home safe and sound!

[Mar1anneC]

I have had that same feeling while visiting Niagara Falls, and that was BEFORE I had kids, so I can't even imagine the vice grip I would have on the kids. LOL. Wonderful pictures and description of the Grand Canyon. Congrats on getting rid of the wallpaper.

[evitangel]

that would have been to much fear for me but great posting and pics as ever!

[Heather]

Seriously, you should be a writer. Man, I'm sitting here saying, I am NEVER going to the grand canyon. Never. My children have problems walking in a straight line on a side walk. ROFL Nope, nope, no over the edge accidents for me. LOL

Those photos are GORGEOUS! I'll just live vicariously through you!

[Jaime]

I was lucky enough to visit the GC back when I lived in Phoenix several years ago. It really is breathtaking! Of course the thing I remember most, were the creepy tarantulas we saw everywhere (can you tell I'm not a fan of spiders?).

[jess]

OMG that was hiliarious. want to point out again that I, guessed correctly first!

What you described is percisley why I don't take my kids. honestly they would all go over the side, or I would be so frusterated by the time I got there I would push them!

[Eve]

WOW that is breathtakingly gorgeous, but man you would not get me ANYWHERE near the edge. I can't believe there isn't a fence!!

[Jane/Wags]

Wow! I would love to visit the canyon but between my fear of heights and hubby's fear of heights we would probably be clutching the kids and each other.

I think I will wait until the kids are at least teenages before we venture down there for a visit.

[Tammy]

Wonderful pictures and I had NO idea that people died at GC. I have never been there but it is one of God's special miracles. WOW!!!!!!

[AfriDigiDiva]

Those photos are visually stunning. I'm so impressed with your skills. You're too awesome, Dawn!

[Michelle Waite]

I remember seeing some scary wall paper jobs when we were house hunting. DH and I tried putting up wall paper once in a tiny room, never again.
Your Grand Canyon photos are incredible. I totally understand the increased anxeity about kids in places like that. We would like to go to Yellowstone again, but I think my three year old would try to jump into the geysers for a swim.

[Char @ DigiScrapChat.com]

LOVE your photos - and I feel exactly the same way with the kiddos. In fact, hubby and I have been withOUT them, but we don't plan to go anytime soon - maybe when they are all teenagers, but even then, we'll be using leashes or something. :-) We actually picked up the book about deaths and the Grand Canyon. You just can't imagine how stupid people can be (and I don't use that word lightly). Anyway, thanks for sharing your pictures and your story!

[carjazi]

As always, great post. Was begining to wonder if we would get the last installment or not. So glad we did! Awesome photos. There's a PM for you at DST. Thanks for the new addiction.

[Gina L]

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Your photos are beautiful, I especially love the shots of the Grand Canyon. I grew up in Las Vegas, so they remind me of home.

[Andrea]

You'll never get to this comment, which is okay because really I'm just kind of typing this for my own therapy anyway. The grand canyon is where I actually became afraid of heights, due to the unfencing. I told you before that when we visited it before it was on a drive by, well when we actually stopped, I was apart from the rest of the family and I did walk up to the edge and kind of dangle my toes over it. Then I realized that nobody was around, and with very little momentum, I'd be propelled to my death. Just barely a flex of the muscles. Nobody would be able to save me.
Terrifying.
SO yeah, my fear of heights is actually a fear of jumping, which means I am insane.
I have a 3 year old and a 16 month old. I feel nauseous thinking about bringing them even into Arizona thinking about all that unfenced hole.